What an experience. The bank is a scary place. We came prepared with all our income slips, net worth statement, balances on our bank accounts, investments, and loans... and the bank officer complimented us on our organization. After nearly two hours of keying things on the computer, we got our answer... we didn't qualify for a car loan!

How could that happen? We've been good customers for years. Not a single late payment on any of our obligations, and a sizeable combined family income. We went over the assessment line-by-line. Finally, we saw a glaring item. It seems that back in December when we bought our treadmill, the fitness store was offering a 60-day same as cash deal. We just had to undergo a quick credit check, and we instantly qualified for a line of credit from one of those "alternate lenders". We paid the treadmill off, in full, before the end of the 60 days (much to the chagrin of the lender, who would have just-as-soon seen us go on a revolving credit line at 28% interest).

Well, it seems that this credit company, in the process of extending us this "line of credit", had "burned" that amount (i.e. the bank considered that credit used, even though we owed nothing, and had no intention of ever using it again). To make a long story short, when we removed the reference to that line of credit, all of a sudden, we showed up clean as a whistle, credit worthy, and pre-approved for both vehicles.

Next came our trip to dealership #1. I finally decided today which vehicle I was going to buy (my wife's decision had been made months prior) and it turns out it would not come from the same dealership as my wife's. I had been hoping to buy two at the same place, to get extra leverage; but there was not much leverage to be had on the wildly popular vehicle we wanted. Today, we gave them a deposit, and will return to the dealership later tonight to sign the contract. We would have finished the paperwork this afternoon, but had to leave because we're expecting the new mattress to be delivered within the next couple of hours.

Dealership #2 will wait until tomorrow. That's when I will sign the paperwork for my vehicle, and then we will be set for the next five years.